Plane forced to make belly landing in Newark after landing gear problem

Amazingly, no one was hurt Saturday when a US Airways plane was forced to perform a belly landing at Newark Liberty International Airport last night, ABC 7 reports.

There were 34 people onboard the flight, including three members of the crew. The plane’s landing gear failed to retract properly, forcing the pilot to dump all the plane’s fuel, pull the landing gear up, and land without it around 1a.m.

US Airways spokesman Davien Anderson told The Associated Press that a turboprop plane that left Philadelphia shortly before 11 p.m. Friday landed safely at Newark with its landing gear retracted at about 1 a.m. Saturday.

Anderson said the flight, being operated by Piedmont Airlines, was carrying 31 passengers and three crew members. He says the plane circled Newark in a holding pattern while working to get the gear down. After several failed attempts to get the gear down, the plane landed on its belly.

Anderson says the passengers were evacuated to the terminal by bus. He says US Airways is co-operating with the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the incident.